As I sit, happily through the first half of my "working vacation" in New York, I can't help but reflect on the past year and the changes and choices that I have made to bring me here tonight. It has certainly been an interesting twelve months, and even though my "interesting" birthdays are mostly over (since I'm now 26, and my golden birthday was last year), I can't help but really start to appreciate the changes I've made.

Back in October, I made the leap - with my family's blessing - to go back to school and really pursue interior design. So far, it feels like the best decision I've made in years. I've truly been able to learn and explore something I'm very passionate about, but my one regret would have to be the neglect this page has suffered in the meantime. (I promise I'm nearly done with those boots! They'll be the first thing I write about in July!)

While interior design is what brought me here, there were a few things really missing today. It was a nearly perfect birthday: dinner with a friend, some project work, and a very laid back kind of day. There were some missing pieces: I can't help but think of my husband, and even my dog and cat, and how much I miss them today. I don't normally get homesick, but today it's fair to say that I'm a little family-sick instead.

While I have been working hard in school, I am ecstatic to write that classes have been going wonderfully, even if these have been consuming my time!Despite a lack of evidence, I'm also happy to write that the boots I've been working on for months are practically done! All that is left is sewing on the rest of the buttons.Onto the interior: this week my project is fairly simple. For school, I'm in New York exploring life in Manhattan. But I'm really lucky since my dad already lives here! So, I've already come out to the city, even though the rest of the class won't be here until Wednesday. So, while I'm here, I plan to at least rearrange some things in my dad's main living space! It may not seem like much, but space planning is a huge part of making living space efficient.

After having some moderate success in planting basil in my counter garden last year, I've exploded with indoor and outdoor plants!

Inside, I've added dill and chives to my kitchen, plus a beautiful flowering Saintpaulina that I got as a gift from my speech students. The dill is coming in lovely, even though I just transplanted it last Friday.

We've added a ton of new plants to the outdoor garden, including a massive oregano plant that was split off of a huge plant.

Some of my favorites are the barberry bushes we've collected, and I can't wait to get all of these in the ground. One is already flowering in the pot, and it's adding some lovely color to the front porch.

The other plant that I'm excited to see flower is the irises I planted yesterday. The little line of yellow flowers in front of the side garden is going to be so pretty and line the space very well.

It's been a lot of really fun work watching everything come together, and I'm so happy to see the fruits of our labor.